1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to remote controls and more particularly to a remote control having a temperature sensor for an air conditioner such that people in the room may feel an increased degree of comfort.
2. Description of Related Art
Typically, most of remote controls (RCs) communicate to their respective devices via IR (infrared) signals. Further, a transmission unit is provided in the RC and a receiver is provided in the device to be controlled.
A typical RC comprises, in addition to the transmission unit, a keypad and associated circuitry, and a printed circuit board (PCB). The transmission unit comprises an LED (light-emitting diode) for emitting IR rays. The device to be controlled comprises, in addition to the receiver, a decoding circuit which is adapted to amplify, filter, and decode the received control signals for further processing.
However, a couple of drawbacks of the conventional RCs have been found. First, a person has to point an RC at an appliance (e.g., air conditioner) to be controlled due to the nature of IR transmission. Second, an effective distance between the RC and the appliance to be controlled is typically less than 10 meters. It is thus typical that a person walks to a position close the appliance and points the RC at the appliance in operation. This is very inconvenient in use.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,068,181 discloses a programmable appliance remote control. Thus, continuing improvements in the exploitation of remote control are constantly being sought.